India publishes amended Rules detailing Extended Producer Responsibility for plastic packaging

On February 17, 2022, the Indian Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) published Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2022 which provides details on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for plastic packaging. The amended Rules were published as a draft bill on October 7, 2021 and were subject to a 60-days public comment period. Under this amendment, guidelines on EPR for plastic packaging were added as Schedule II. The changes from the draft amendment include the addition of compostable plastic sheets for packaging and compostable carry bags to the list of covered plastic packaging, and the establishment of recycling targets for these packaging materials. Also, the start of application of the recycling targets and target ratio of recycled plastic use imposed on producers, importers, and brand owners was postponed by one fiscal year (recycling targets: from FY 2024, target ratio of recycled plastic use: from FY 2025).

Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2022
https://egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/2022/233568.pdf

NOTE:
Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) issued a supplementary document for the Rules to clarify some concerns. See more details below:
India issues supplementary document for EPR Guidelines of plastic packaging

Covered entities

• Producers of plastic packaging
• Importers of all imported plastic packaging and plastic packaging of imported products
• Brand owners including online platforms or marketplaces and supermarkets/retail chains (excluding micro and small enterprises)
• Plastic waste processors